Dirty Little Secrets
by Ishbu girl
Summary: Even the school Gods have a few too many skeletons in their closets, some more deadly than others...
1. Prologue

Dirty Little Secrets

I met her gaze with my own, never once wavering or flinching despite the coldness in her eyes and the current circumstances. The rain had long soaked through my hoodie and jeans, washing away the remnants of once drying blood from my cuts and scrapes. She need not bound my wrists, for I was so weak already, having probably obtained a concussion from the head wound I had received earlier. Even now her image flittered before my eyes.

So this was death. I stared up into her beautiful face, taking in every angle of perfection, and I knew that she would be my undoing.

She raised her wand, her crimson lips tilting upward to reveal a cruel smile. Above us, lightning flashed, revealing the forming spell in her eyes and instilling a way of terror within me. Perhaps she would be kind and make it quick, however, the sneer appearing on her pretty little face told me otherwise.

Oh, Lord. Help me. I had not prayed in years, but I did now. With every ounce of want and terror within my soul I prayed for the strength to survive. I needed to survive. Wanted to survive. I finally had found my reason for living and now death spit in my face, mocking everything I had won.

How did I get here? How did I manage to end up bleeding to death beneath the will of my former friend's wand? Hadn't we been besties only weeks previous? So much had occurred in such a small amount of time.

My memories were a jumbled amount of movie clips floating around in my head. I tried desperately not to allow too much thought over the past, for nothing but pain could arise. And yet now, facing life's end, I considered the past few weeks. I needed to know…where did I go wrong? Ignoring the throbbing gash in my head and the mutterings of a spell in the background, I closed my eyes and tuned out the world…and I remembered….


	2. A Warning of Sorts

**_" Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, then it's not the end."_**

" What do you think of this color?" Alyce held her hand palm up towards the overhead lights, giving greater affect to the intense lilac that coated her long nails.

" No, pink suits your complexion better." I threw at her, my voice low due to the amount of concentration I was applying to the notes in front of me.

I glanced up from the text, watching as she tapped her wand against her fingernails, turning them a light shade of pink. Her hair fell over her shoulder, spilling waves of gold down the front of her shirt down to her elbow. She always reminded me of a Greek goddess from the ancient legends. Perhaps she was an Aphrodite or maybe a Helen of Troy, bound to trouble by her glorious beauty.

" So, what's with the new look, Alyce?" I asked, my face masked of emotion. She smirked and leaned back in her seat, a wicked gleam in her eye.

" Well, lets just say that Amos Diggery has his eyes on me, and I would like more than just his eyes after dinner tonight."

I could feel my eyebrows rising in response; I couldn't help it.

" Wow. Your sluttiness amazes me more and more every day." We both tried to maintain a straight face, failing miserably as fits of giggles enraptured us both.

After the hours had passed and the windows tinted dark by night, Alyce helped me gather my books and return them all to their proper place in the library.

The hall was eerily quiet as we made our way to dinner, arm in arm; two pictures of beauty connected by a single link.

Amelia Bones leaned casually against the entrance of the Great Hall, watching us walk steadily towards her with a heavy lidded gaze. Where Alyce reminded me of the Sun, Amelia stirred thoughts of the mother earth. Her naturally dark looks gave her the appearance of an out-doorsy type girl, but really she was one of the biggest scholars in Hogwarts.

I met her sometime back in second year when we were competing for top spot in the potions class. I won, and with her being a Ravenclaw, and well…me not, it brought on a few passionate remarks and hated stares. But soon after our little tiff we became fast and tight friends.

" I was wondering what took you wankers so long. Cissy and Alex have been warding off horny pubescent geeks just to save our spots. Now, don't you feel so ashamed?"

Her brown eyes twinkled in good humor, though her lips never once quirked. Amelia Bones very rarely smiled, for such a creature as she was far too serious and studious of a person. She and Alyce were complete opposites, which many times led to civil differences between the two.

Amelia came around to my free side, taking my arm in her own just as Alyce had done.

" Now, m'ladies, shall we make our grand entrance for the evening?"

I smiled slightly and nodded towards the doors.

" Yes, I definitely agree with the idea."

Arms dropping casually to our sides we stepped into the noisy Hall, ignoring the hushed whispers and yearning stares that were being sent our way. I do not lie that we revel in the glory that is presented to us, for it is rightfully ours'.

Narcissa was seated somewhere at the end of the Hufflepuff table, Alexis beside her. Amelia hadn't been joking when she elaborated on the gang of boys. A group of fifth years were practically drooling over Alexis' shoulder. She turned to smile at me. It was sometimes shocking the family resemblance she shared with James Potter. Of course being cousins, I suppose that sort of thing might happen. I guess what gets me the most is her personality. She acts nothing like the arrogant prat that walked the halls like Hogwarts royalty.

She patted the empty seat beside her, a warm smile lighting up her flushed face. I slid onto the bench, turning my body so that I could face all four of my friends. Cissy shooed the pesky youth from around us, and we began to dig in to the feast that lay before us.

The pumpkin pie looked scrumptious, though pumpkin was never my favorite flavor. And then I remembered the Transfiguration spell I had learned to change it to blackberry pie. With a wave of my wand I muttered the appropriate incantation. And nothing happened.

I scrunched up my nose in aggravation and speared off a big chunk of the pie with my fork.

" You are not seriously going to eat that, are you?",

Alyce asked me in a horrified voice.

" It will go straight to you ass, you know."

Narcissa rolled her eyes, smiling at me apologetically.

" Don't listen to this weight freak, Lily. One piece of pie won't kill you…or blow your ass up like the stupid one seems to believe."

I shoved the fork into my mouth, grinning over the mouth full.

" May I please have your attention."

I, as well as the rest of the student body, was startled by this interruption to our meal. Only when important matters were at hand did Dumbledore ever break into a feast with a lecture.

He stood patiently, his blue eyes staring expectantly over his half moon spectacles at me. Then suddenly realization hit me that the hall was not quieting, merely filling with the echoes of enthusiastic whispers.

Climbing to my feet, I stepped atop my emptied spot on the wooden bench, facing the entire Great Hall. Murmuring a spell to carry my voice, I inhaled deeply.

" QUIET!" A masculine voice boomed across the Great Hall, first surprising me that it was not my own carrying throughout the room, and secondly that it belonged to James Potter.

I had not seen the bastard when we entered, not that I was looking of course. He stood erect on the other end of the Hall, an heir of superiority about him like a king before his kingdom.

The students immediately quieted, shrinking back into their seats beneath his burning gaze. I barely noticed when a sixth year boy was kind enough to help me down. Finally I managed to turn my attentions back to the Headmaster.

" I believe that the Sorting Hat has an important song he wishes for you all to hear. So listen carefully and heed his words. They may matter entirely in the end."

Dumbledore ended with a round of applause and he once more seated himself behind the staff's table. All attention was now focused on the musty old hat.

Almost like magic the faded felt was animated into a creature fit for the school. It took a few moments to fully wake up, but soon enough it cleared its raspy voice and sang out.

"_A thousand years or more ago  
when I was newly sewn,  
there lived four wizards of renown,  
whose names are still well known:  
bold __Gryffindor__, from wild moor,  
fair __Ravenclaw__, from glen,  
sweet __Hufflepuff__, from valley broad,  
shrewd __Slytherin__, from fen._

_Now I'm sure you're wondering_

_what tales I have to tell._

_So listen close and heed my words_

_they'll likely do you well._

_Never were such good friends found_

_In all the world to find_

_And such revelations shocking_

_As their bond quickly declined._

_School ties were lost _

_As friendships fell_

_No longer trust_

_Filled Hogwarts halls_

_So sad a time it was to see_

_And makes me sad to say_

_Such horrors will soon befall you_

_As something wicked comes your way_

_Keep true to your friends and Houses_

_Soon severed are your ties_

_For those you once held faith in_

_Shall soon harm you out of spite."_

The ballad ended with a stunned silence, and a wave of dread filled my heart. What the hell was that all about anyway? _Keep true to your friends and houses_… never in my seven years at Hogwarts had the Houses ever been segregated. We didn't even sit at our proper tables. Everyone was friends with whomever they desired, no matter the title of House.

Most just waved off the warning as a ridiculous waste of thought. And it would seem that my friends wished to appear that way as well, their happy-go-lucky smirks correctly in place. But as Narcissa turned her head, her gaze captured mine for a moment…and I saw the worry and caution that filled her gray orbs, almost like a warning meant especially for me. But as I leaned closer she turned her head once more, her expression guarded.

I should've ignored the warning just like everyone else. And yet, even as I told myself this, the ballad still played over again in my head.

_As something wicked comes your way…_

**A/N: So how do you like it? I always have trouble starting off stories, but once I get writing, it flows really well. Im sorry it took me so long to post the next chapter. I was adding a bit to it everyday. Now, seeing as I have midterms this week, you might not get another chapter until the end of next week, im sorry to say. So, I hope you enjoy! Please leave me lots of comments.**

**XOXOXO**


	3. Sweet Dreams

The flesh was melting from my face, like a festering wound that finally burst, puss and blood and bile oozing in one big disgusting waterfall down my front. My hair, my beautiful red hair fell from my scalp in clumps, fluttering like drunken butterflies down to the floor.

A scream tore from my throat, but to my ears it sounded more like a dying animal, crying its last breath of agony to the world before it is completely destroyed. I was witnessing my own destruction in the looking glass before me, watching my mask of perfection unravel into the horrifying being I truly am.

My nails began raking down any surface of skin they could find, scratching at anything, peeling away at my rotting exterior.

And then suddenly my arms slowed, my body jerking forcefully against an invisible force, scratching at air. I felt the warm trickling of blood beneath my fingers, and I wondered _How can air bleed?_

My eyes opened to the sound of my name, feeling as though my eyeballs were being ripped from their sockets with force.

Alexis hovered over me, pinning my arms into the sweat soaked mattress beneath me. An expression of concern was painted across her face, angry red welts climbing down her forearms.

It took me a moment to rationalize what my eyes were seeing, but the moment I did, I quickly sat up in my bed.

" You were having a nightmare, Lils." Her voice was neutral, her expression carefully blank. I sighed, dropping my head into my hands.

" Did I do that to you?" Even to my own ears, my voice was shaky and tired. She smiled softly, touching the contusions on her arms.

" They aren't that bad. Yours are much worse. Besides, its nothing long sleeves can't hide."

"My wounds…" I murmured, my gaze looking down on my blood stained nightgown. Numbly I swung my feet over the side of the bed, ambling to the conjoined bathroom we shared with another room. The moment I saw my refection I began to feel pain. Bloodied welts ran from my lower neck to the tops of my breasts. The flesh around the scratches was already turning an ugly shade of green. This would be fun to explain.

Taking a quick shower to wash the drying blood off of me, I ignored the stinging of the scrapes under the water's pressure, instead trying to focuss my mind on happier thoughts. It was no use. My brain was not willing to so easily sidetrack as it does in Charms. I ended up playing over the dream constantly in my head, analyzing ever bit from memory. It made no sense to me.

I quickly dried my body, changing into a clean nightgown. Alexis was already asleep when I crawled beneath my own covers, praying that tomorrow would be a better day…It wasn't.

I awoke late and to the sounds of murmurs and dry sobs. Pushing my way through the forming crowd downstairs I pulled to the side the first tearless lower classman I could come across.

They smiled sadly at me when I inquired as to what was going on, their voice a mere whisper and yet, almost a yell to me.

" They found the corpse of a Ravenclaw seventh year in the transfiguration room."

I found myself asking who.

" Annie Chung."

The world did not stop, nor did it even slow. I nodded slowly, understanding and not at all hysterical. I'm not even sure if the news was truly sunk in. I turned away only to find Sirius watching me carefully.

" You need to come with me. Dumbledore needs to speak with you and James for a bit."

He began walking away, tugging me along with him. Black and I do not touch or make any form of human contact if at all possible….which made this extremely awkward.

" Where are we going, Black?" My voice seemed to be echoing back to my ears from yards away. I was not all there consciously.

" I'm taking you to the Infirmary."

I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion, stopping in my steps. This action caused Sirius to be tugged backwards, like a dog come to the end of his leash. Funny how dog analogies always came to mind with him.

He turned around, a peeved expression clearly written across his handsome face.

" What?"

I shook my head, a stupid look in my eyes.

" I don't need to go to the infirmary."

He sighed, and thumped my forehead like one would an ignorant child.

" No shit, Sherlock. Dumbledore has ordered you and James to go and help clean up the dead chick's body for her funeral. They want to get her buried before she starts to smell."

I glared at him, pulling my hand away from his grasp.

" You are the most poetic being I have ever met, Sirius Black. When you speak, birds fall dead to the ground and buildings collapse…"

" And girls flock to my very existence. Don't mock me, Evans. You're no better of a human being than I am. Now come on…I don't want to be the one bitched at by McGonagall when you and James are late for the little tête-à-tête with Annie."

I shook my head in disgust, following him obediently.

" You're such a pervert, Sirius."

He smiled wryly back at me, his eyes full of malice.

" And you, my pet, are a bitch. Now shut it."

**A/N: So Sorry it took so long. I am being bombarded with school work and books I must read. So I write a few words every day and hope that it will make a sufficient chapter for you guys. Ok, so I don't know if you can see it yet or not, but I've got the mystery started up, which makes things a bit easier to flow with on my side of the story. Once you get past the awkward introduction in an essay, or in this case a story, things start coming out quicker, easier, better… so I hope you like it, and I will try my hardest to get another chapter back to you before the end of next week. **


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